27 May 2004
U.S. Wants Close Coordination with Interim Iraq Government
Negroponte's comments on new U.N. resolution on Iraq
Ensuring that "there is the best possible coordination between MNF (multinational force) commanders and the Iraqi authorities, both civilian and military" in planning military operations after the restoration of sovereignty to Iraq June 30 is one of the United States' major concerns, said Ambassador John Negroponte May 26.
Negroponte, who is the U.S. ambassador-designate to Iraq, said that if major military operations such as the one involving Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) troops in Fallujah are required after June 30, "clearly the views of the authorities of Iraq are going to have to be taken fully into account and respected."
The United States and the United Kingdom presented a draft resolution to the U.N. Security Council May 24 that would endorse the transfer of sovereignty from the CPA to Iraq on June 30, provide for a multinational force, and define the role of the United Nations. The draft is currently under discussion by council members.
Representatives of China and France told journalists after a private council meeting May 26 that they have suggestions for revising the text.
A vote is not expected until after U.N. special envoy Lakhdar Brahimi, who is in Iraq helping to form an interim government, reports back to the Security Council in early June.
Negroponte, who is currently the chief U.S. representative to the U.N., also said the United States does not "think this is a resolution that needs to be rewritten," but it will "make every effort" to take any proposals into account.
Following is the transcript of the ambassador's exchange with journalists after a closed-door Security Council session on the draft resolution:
By Judy Aita
Washington File United Nations Correspondent
USUN PRESS RELEASE # 92 (04) May 26, 2004
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Remarks by Ambassador John D. Negroponte, U.S. Representative to the United Nations, on the Draft Resolution on Iraq, at the Security Council Stakeout, May 26, 2004
Ambassador Negroponte: We had a consultative meeting this afternoon on the draft Security Council resolution whose main purpose is going to be to mark the restoration of the full exercise of sovereignty to the Interim Government of Iraq on the 30th of June. I think we had a good discussion. We agreed to have a meeting at the level of experts tomorrow afternoon, and this process will continue for a while.
I think that the spirit of the discussion was constructive - I think we had a good dialogue. And we are hoping to carry this forward as quickly as possible, since time is closing in and the date is actually approaching when this transfer is going to take place.
Any questions?
Reporter: The French proposal -- if you could just respond to the French proposal on a two-week period after the naming of the new leadership and the passage of a resolution so that the interim government --
Ambassador Negroponte: Well, actually, I don't recall during the consultation a specific time frame being mentioned by our French colleague. He may have said something here to the press.
Reporter: Basically, after Mr. Brahimi gives the names of the interim government, we should wait for two weeks or more to assess the reaction of the Iraqi people?
Ambassador Negroponte: First of all, I think speaking for my government - I think speaking for most of the representatives sitting around that table this afternoon - I think we all have a great deal of confidence in the work that Ambassador Brahimi is doing out there under very, very difficult circumstances. We appreciate his extensive efforts - the time he has spent out there, the personal sacrifice that has been involved on his part in facilitating the creation of an interim government.
So we will take his recommendations extremely seriously. And I think it behooves us to move on his recommendations thereafter as expeditiously as possible. So I for one would think that -
Reporter: (inaudible)
Ambassador Negroponte: -- well, that just gets you up much too close to the time for the actual transfer of sovereignty. I assume our French colleague wants the resolution passed before the transfer actually takes place.
Reporter: Ambassador, just to make it clear -- is it your understanding that the Iraqi interim government will have the ability to say that the multinational force --
Ambassador Negroponte: Are we going to go back over the military issue? Yes, go ahead.
Reporter: (inaudible) Fallujah, whatever. Will it have a veto over offensive action by the multinational force?
Ambassador Negroponte: You're getting into terminology that was used, I think, in the media of late. I don't think it was used by Mr. Blair himself.
Here, let me just be clear: One of the major issues - and I'm saying this now as our Ambassador-designate to Iraq - that is going to be of interest and concern to us is to ensure that there is the best possible coordination between MNF commanders and the Iraqi authorities, both civilian and military, when it comes to the discussion and planning of military-type operations.
And clearly, when it comes to such major operations such as the kind to which you just referred -- the situation in Fallujah -- clearly the views of the authorities of Iraq are going to have to be taken fully into account and respected. And --
Reporter: But will they have the ultimate political say-so?
Ambassador Negroponte: I think you're then -- you're trying to stipulate every possible hypothesis. I think there's just no question that we are going to operate -- to the extent that we operate in Iraq, it's going to be with the consent and approval of the authorities of Iraq. There's just absolutely no doubt about that.
Now the mechanics and the details of how these activities are coordinated is something that is going to be worked out on the ground, in the country between the political and military authorities on both sides. And we have had experience in working in those kinds of situations elsewhere in the world. This is not something that is completely new to us.
Reporter: Are there are any redlines in the draft resolution as far as your government is concerned, or is anything, everything in the resolution open to negotiation?
Ambassador Negroponte: We think that we've put down a very solid resolution in terms of its conveying the exercise of sovereignty back to the government of Iraq, in terms of defining the United Nations' role, and in terms of defining the mandate of the multinational force - as well as appealing to the international community to assist Iraq in various ways. So we think it's a good resolution.
I said in the Council consultation room this afternoon that we don't think this is a resolution that needs to be rewritten. One of our colleagues responded back, "Well, maybe not, but we think that it could be fine-tuned in places." Okay, if they want to see it fine-tuned, they should give us specific proposals and we will study them carefully, and where possible make every effort to take them into account.
Yes?
Reporter: A couple of concerns of the Members seem to be that the resolution is silent on the issues of authority and control, issues that will be dealt with in the side letters. Will the side letters ultimately be endorsed in the resolution, be spelled out in the resolution? How will they be dealt with?
Ambassador Negroponte: I think that's still to be determined. The side letters are something that first have to be discussed with the new interim Iraqi authorities when they are identified. And then we'll work on the issue of how we go forward from there.
But the general point that I made in the Council today -- when a number of our colleagues were advocating that the details of our coordination arrangements should be spelled out in the resolution, my response to that was I think we believe that the resolution should provide a general framework wherein these activities take place, but that the more elaborate details ought to be spelled out in understandings and agreements between ourselves - the MNF on the one hand and the Iraqi authorities on the other.
We should not try to burden the Security Council resolution with a lot of the kinds of details that really need to be spelled out and will ultimately of course be implemented in the country on the ground.
Yes.
Reporter: Will the transfer of power still go forward on July 1st with or without --
Ambassador Negroponte: June 30th.
Reporter: -- June 30th, with or without the Council voting on a resolution?
Ambassador Negroponte: The plan is most emphatically for the transfer to take place on the 30th of June.
Reporter: But if the Council hasn't voted on a resolution yet -- will that complicate your new duties in Baghdad, if they haven't voted yet?
Ambassador Negroponte: We certainly expect the Council to have acted by then. My own view is I have not gotten any feedback or seen any reactions that in my mind would suggest that we're going to come up against some insuperable obstacle with respect to passing this resolution.
Yes?
Reporter: I wonder if you could comment on the Chinese non-paper which got some pretty strong support from both the French and the German ambassadors, and also from the Russians and others?
Ambassador Negroponte: Well, as usual you're ahead of me on this one -- maybe you can send me your comments on the Chinese non-paper. I haven't seen it myself, so I won't have any comment - I'm simply not aware of it.
One last question. OK.
Reporter: In your opinion, should the Security Council resolution have the stipulation that the Iraqi government will have complete authority when to tell the MNF and the occupation forces to leave Iraq, after the elections?
Ambassador Negroponte: We're talking about the full restoration of sovereignty. And if you look at the language that we have put in our draft resolution, what we stipulate in the draft as it is presently laid out is that the mandate of the MNF would be reviewed in a twelve-month period or when requested by the Transitional Administration of Iraq.
Thank you.
(The Washington File is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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